Ready for the summer

What a bluster of activity, as we wrap up another school year! Zack is graduating from 8th grade this week, so he has lots of festivities this week. Dylan has final exams, and the girls had a barbeque with their little buddies (Kindergarteners), and had a field trip to the beach to learn about the Chumash (Ivy got hit in the forehead with a hockey stick - - d'oh!), just lots of fun stuff! So in the fall, I will have two high-schoolers, and two fourth graders! That means just five more science fairs, five more fall carnivals, five more gift wrapping fundraisers, and five more jog-a-thons!

My cousin Rose and her husband Nate welcomed their sweet bundle of love into the world on May 31st. Rose had a home birth, I can't wait to hear the details. Here is a photo of Isaac Wilde Toutjian:


We sold our motorhome to a very nice family in Whittier. I'm looking forward to taking the new rig out for some close jaunts this summer (gas costs being so outrageous!).

I took the girls to Circus Vargas when it was in Ventura a couple of weeks ago. I have always avoided the circus, because I felt sorry for the circus animals (elephants, tigers, etc.). Well, they don't have those animals any more! The only animals they used were dogs, so we had a great time at the circus. Here is a picture of the girls showing their clown hats:


The kids and I took a [mountain] bike ride through Sycamore Canyon last Sunday. My dad, Ellie, and Jesus came with us. I just have to brag and say MY GIRLS KICK ASS! This ride ended up being 12 miles round trip, with several creek crossings, and the girls never hesitated, never chickend out, never got tired, never complained. They loved it! They were exhilarated on the downhill stretches! My dad overheard Ivy shout "I FEEL FREE!" at one point. The amazing thing is, they were riding their little rinky-dink single speed girly (pink) bicycles! I had 27 gears to help me and it seemed I had to work a lot harder than they did! At one point, I just sat and told them to go ahead...my ass had a difficult time getting adjusted to that tiny banana seat being wedged up in there. Ouchy! So we all agree to do this at least twice a month. It's like hiking, but you can go four times as far! Here is a picture of the kids relaxing on a giant Sycamore tree, while Jesus fixed a flat tire:


We're still trying to decide if we can swing another road tip through Arizona this summer. And, I would really like to get back up into the Western Sierras, to do those hikes we could not access in March (due to the snow). The China trip is still on for late October.

Keep in touch!
~L